Dogpatch and Western Railroad - The home of easy-to-build full-size caboose kits.

A. Considering the cost of real wheels and undercarriages, and the weight and cost to ship them, we are dollars ahead for our customers by fabricating our own. Remember, even scrap steel sells for about 50 cents a pound. Can you imagine how much real wheels weigh?

A. Actually, we outsource some of the work. Our wheels are made of foam-filled fiberglass, cut for us and glassed on our site. We offer two styles of undercarriages - our roller bearing truck is foam-filled fiberglass, while our arch bar is made of wood. Ask us for pictures. And sure, you can buy a set from us. We get $900 for a complete set of four, or $225 for a single set.

A. You can have any size window, where ever you want them, as many as you want and at whatever quality fits your budget.

A. We do, in our complete kit, but they're a standard style that we supply, and you'll have to pay the freight to your location. You're better off buying your own locally so you save on freight and have a wider selection to choose from.

A. No, not for the framing. The frame bolts together and lumber is standard sized. Lay the lumber in place and nail or screw it in. You may need a contractor for electrical, plumbing, interior wall surfaces, cabinets, etc. if you can't do that yourself.

A. Not really. We design the kits to use standard size materials as much as possible, or at least materials than can be cut to size by your building materials dealer. Anything requiring special cuts, we provide in the kits.

A. Anything you like. Our recommendation is to use quarter-inch plywood because it will bend to the arches easily. We suggest that you cover the plywood with fiberglass. Other options generally cost much more and usually require professional installation. Steel roofs and rubberized roofing work well but are not cheap.

A. Our goal is to get you a caboose as inexpensively as possible. A completed caboose requires a dedicated truck to deliver, whereas we can ship many kits on a single truck, or ship a kit as part of a loaded truck. Also, it would mean we'd need a crane to load the caboose here, and you'd need one at your site to unload it. But even more, you'd be paying for our labor as opposed to using your own. And, we'd rather do only what we do best, which is manufacturing the kit.

A. Well, we've put a lot of work designing the kit, but if you feel you could do it yourself, perhaps we could help by supplying some of the items you might find hard to get. We'd be happy to sell you our arched roof trusses or our undercarriages and wheels, and of course assist you in any way with suggestions at no charge. We also offer our structural engineer's 31 pages of specs and calcs to help you obtain a building permit. This runs $200, no charge if you purchase the kit.

A. You don't want to read the entire instructions here, but we can tell you that the steel parts bolt together, so no welding at your site is required. The floor joists fit into standard joist hangers, and wall studs are easy. You lay the floor, bolt in the end posts, nail up the siding, etc. You may want to bring in a helper, as the steel tubing can be pretty heavy, up to 60 pounds, and the plywood is also heavy and awkward to lift. We have step by step illustrated instructions. Ask for a set.

A. That's one option, but possibly not the best. A ladder going up is pretty tacky, but a normal staircase doesn't have to take up much space, is less expensive, easy to build, and more practical. But we would be happy to recommend spiral staircase suppliers if you choose. They should run from $600 to $1,200. Don't pay more than that, though.

A. That's directly related to how long and how wide you want the cupola to be. A longer cupola obviously gives you more useable space with adequate headroom. That's the beauty of our concept. We'll build our kits to fit your needs, and really, that's how the railroads built their cabooses, to fit their needs.

A. It depends on your local ordinances, but we would strongly recommend it. Our structural engineer's specs and calcs will give you the minimum requirements, but check with the building department first. Usually they'll require the structure to be 18 inches off the ground, but if you're going to use our wheels, the structure has to be 31 inches off the ground for wheel clearance.

A. Ask us for our caboose information letter. The basic kit costs for several common sizes of both our models are spelled out there, as well as the approximate cost of materials required to finish the framing.

A. Let's keep your costs down. We can recommend places to buy the grab rails at about $9 each, end rails for about $50, and roof access ladders for about $50.

A. We really wouldn't want the responsibility in the event of a traffic accident, so we wouldn't sell a kit in that case, but, we'd be happy to offer our advice at no charge.

A. Pretty close to the real thing, but remember we'd rather tailor your kits to your comfort. If you want a 12 foot wide caboose for the extra space, you'll have to sacrifice some authenticity. But it will still plainly be a caboose.

A. Sorry, the cost of shipping them would be outrageous. But, I have seen handrails for staircases at Home Depot, for about $3 a foot, and they pretty much look like steel rails.

A. No cheap materials. We use 11 and 16 gage new steel and first quality roof trusses. Most importantly, our overhead is very low and we have a unique freight arrangement. We've taken an intelligent, thoughtful approach in our design. You've heard of the government buying $600 hammers and $1200 toilets. We don't do that. Then, building this business is more important than big profits, and in this economy we have to give big value just to stay alive. But don't worry, as we grow and the economy improves, we'll have to raise our prices. (We suggest you order soon!)

A. The first thing is we'll need to talk to you to determine your needs and decide whether we can meet them. Then, depending on your options and the size of your caboose, we'll have to price out the kit. Then, when you're ready to order, we'll request a 50% advance to buy materials. We use PayPal for credit card purchases because it offers the best buyer protection, and our customers prefer PayPal. We'll accept checks or money orders, but we have to allow for clearing before we start work.